Post-Mercury-Pluto Opposition Update / New Moon on a Mercury-Uranus Square

At the time I wrote yesterday's post, I was unaware that a gunman had shot and killed seven people in Santa Monica...so I would like to apologize if my "fun time for snipers and vipers" comment sounded too flippant.

The New Moon in Gemini occurred just before noon ET, and was followed just a few hours later by the Mercury-Uranus square. If you made the mistake of not only writing but sending an incendiary e-mail, it is too late to take it back -- but on the bright side, we are free of squares till the Moon squares Uranus on Monday at 12:33 p.m. ET, and tomorrow we will get a preview of the Saturn-Neptune trine with the moon's trines to Saturn and Neptune (exact at 11:10 p.m. and 11:19 p.m., respectively).

What this grand trine in water (Moon in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio, Neptune in Pisces) is all about it stabilizing, not suppressing, the emotions, and using them in a constructive, creative way. It is a good time to address family problems; although the Moon in Cancer is extremely sensitive and prone to withdrawing when threatened, Saturn's influence will encourage meeting challenges halfway while Neptune's influence will soften jagged edges and encourage imaginative solutions. It is also an optimal time to work on confronting your emotions, your deepest needs and fears. You may even be able to begin reshaping your instincts and intuition if you have not been able to rely on them. Your environment will be more important than usual at this time, and you may feel the urge to improve your home or go to the seashore.

Secrets, Power Trips, and Self-Deception--Oh My!

We are approaching two challenging aspects that already have manifested in a political scandal that could be called "Big Brother Is Watching You, Part XLIV." I am referring, of course to the phone companies in bed with the Obama administration, since apparently everyone is a potential terrorist. Yet we should all be comforted to learn that, unlike various invasions of privacy during the Bush II regime, this one has been sanctioned by the courts. There, don't you feel much better about it now?

The Mercury-Pluto opposition (exact 6:01pm ET) cautions us that communications are neither open nor transparent at the moment. You may be keeping a huge secret, or you may be deliberately kept in the dark about something important. Either circumstance will lead to paranoia and an imbalance of power. It is also possible that you will blow the lid off very sensitive information if the price is right or the pressure to spill the beans is too intense. If you run with a particular type of crowd, you may find yourself at the bottom of the bay, feeding the fish. Even if you run with no crowd at all, you may have an unpleasant interaction with a neighbor or sibling. Even if you are alone, you may wind up arguing with yourself. This will be a fun time for snipers and vipers.

The Mars-Neptune square (exact 7:58pm ET) unfortunately will not assist you in terms of intuition and timing. Self-deception is very likely, as is the desire to tie one on. If you insist on hitting the bars, try to wait till after the square -- Happy Hour will be more like Crappy Hour. If you have another type of poison, you may not react well to it. This is definitely not the right evening to go out for sushi and sake.

Uranus-Pluto Square Update: Tornadoes; RIP Ray Manzarek

Yesterday I posted about the Uranus-Pluto square; unfortunately but unsurprisingly, this intense outer-planet aspect has manifested in extreme weather patterns. At least two dozen tornadoes occurred in Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois, and today, a severe tornado touched down south of Oklahoma City, resulting in two fatalities and over a dozen injuries.

Also, musician Ray Manzarek of the seminal '60s rock band the Doors died today. Interestingly, he was a Sun in Aquarius (ruled by Uranus). Manzarek formed the Doors with Jim Morrison in 1965, during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction; their first single was, apropos of this conjunction, "Break on Through (to the Other Side)."